Just announced! The Chromebook $249!!!

[Bertuzzied]

Wow during the earning fiasco, google just announced their first laptop.

Google's Chromebook, made by Samsung, looks almost identical to an Apple MacBook Air 11.6 inch. However, while the Apple laptop starts at $999, the Google/Samsung laptop is 75% less expensive. It may also be the first volume-manufactured laptop to not have a fan, because it runs so cool. It is therefore as quiet and cool as any smartphone or tablet. No noisy fan which draws power and blows hot air out of the laptop.


http://www.thestreet.com/story/11741...o&cm_ven=YAHOO

[FlamingLonghorn]

Meh... not the world beater they think it is. It's pretty much a next-gen tablet with a keyboard.

[Russic]

I haven't been following Google's Chromebooks at all... do they still require wifi for many of the tasks, or has that changed?

[JohnnyNipshank]

Hands on Thoughts

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/samsung-...-35500150.html

[HELPNEEDED]

that thing is hideous.

[chemgear]

^ Sure, I guess. But come on, a $249 price point is certainly interesting for that segment of the market.

[anyonebutedmonton]

It's much closer to a netbook than the 11" MBA.

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Wow during the earning fiasco, google just announced their first laptop.

Google's Chromebook, made by Samsung, looks almost identical to an Apple MacBook Air 11.6 inch. However, while the Apple laptop starts at $999, the Google/Samsung laptop is 75% less expensive. It may also be the first volume-manufactured laptop to not have a fan, because it runs so cool. It is therefore as quiet and cool as any smartphone or tablet. No noisy fan which draws power and blows hot air out of the laptop.


http://www.thestreet.com/story/11741...o&cm_ven=YAHOO

how long until apple sues samsung over this?

[Titan]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

how long until apple sues samsung over this?

My first thought when I saw the keyboard. oh my.

[Anduril]

Somewhat interested in one for myself. Wouldn't mind too much about the Chrome OS nature as tethering from my phone easily solves that.

Just want a 13.3 inch model with a little more power to it. :/

Sent from my HTC One X using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

[Coys1882]

From the C/Net article:
"It's fine for many tasks, but power users accustomed to having more than a couple dozen browser tabs open should steer clear."

24 tabs open at once? Do people really do that? I get more than three and I think it looks messy and start closing.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

From the C/Net article:
"It's fine for many tasks, but power users accustomed to having more than a couple dozen browser tabs open should steer clear."

24 tabs open at once? Do people really do that? I get more than three and I think it looks messy and start closing.

Apparently half a dozen tabs is the sweet spot where the Chrome book won't reload pages after you've left them after a period of time.

Sent from my HTC One X using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

From the C/Net article:
"It's fine for many tasks, but power users accustomed to having more than a couple dozen browser tabs open should steer clear."

24 tabs open at once? Do people really do that? I get more than three and I think it looks messy and start closing.

I just counted, and I've got 27 open right now. I have pages that are always loaded, such as Gmail, Google calendar and a few key Google docs. When I read forums, I usually open all the threads that I want to read as separate tabs then start reading. As I browse the web, I open up pages that I want to read, but not necessary read them right away.

I hate browsing any other way.

[HotHotHeat]

Google's pricing strategy is hard to understand. Why would they price this thing so close to the Nexus 7?

What's the size of the internal storage?

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Google's pricing strategy is hard to understand. Why would they price this thing so close to the Nexus 7?

What's the size of the internal storage?

Is it really hard to understand? They're in separate categories aimed at different people with different needs it seems. Want a 7 inch tab? Got the Nexus7. Interested in having a small "netbook" like device that is aimed purely for Internet only use, has good battery life and quick/easy to use? The ChromeBook doesn't look to be a bad choice.
If it was any more, they would have even more trouble reeling in users as is.
16GB it looks like.
Sent from my HTC One X using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

[blankall]

This isn't for me, but I'm a huge fan of this kind of pricepoint. The reality of the situation is that many people aren't gamers or heavy net users. They want a computer that does basic things a computer did 10 years ago. It makes no sense to only offer high end prices with end components to these people. If you can build a simple computer that runs smoothly and does the basics for cheap, why not?

And for those commenting on the looks...it looks exactly like a mac product, except the white is slightly more grey.

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Is it really hard to understand? They're in separate categories aimed at different people with different needs it seems. Want a 7 inch tab? Got the Nexus7. Interested in having a small "netbook" like device that is aimed purely for Internet only use, has good battery life and quick/easy to use? The ChromeBook doesn't look to be a bad choice.
If it was any more, they would have even more trouble reeling in users as is.
16GB it looks like.
Sent from my HTC One X using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

That's fine. I'm saying it's hard to understand why they're obsessed with pricing things so low and making them functionally limited. Release something that HAS internal storage and CAN be used to edit photos, movies, etc. I want to see them compete with Apple in more ways than the color of the keyboard and the size of the screen.

Yes, the 11" MBA is 4x the price, but it's fully capable of running pro level apps and even Windows at the same time. People are willing to pay for something that does a lot. Google is too focused on thinking people want netbooks.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

That's fine. I'm saying it's hard to understand why they're obsessed with pricing things so low and making them functionally limited. Release something that HAS internal storage and CAN be used to edit photos, movies, etc. I want to see them compete with Apple in more ways than the color of the keyboard and the size of the screen.

Yes, the 11" MBA is 4x the price, but it's fully capable of running pro level apps and even Windows at the same time. People are willing to pay for something that does a lot. Google is too focused on thinking people want netbooks. They don't.

Who wants to "need" to use pro-style apps on an 11" screen?
If you are doing anything where you actually require software to edit movies and photos I'm pretty sure you aren't doing it on something with that small of a form factor.

If I had to guess I would say on something that small and light people are using it for taking notes or responding to email. And Google figured out that they could create a product to fill that niche for 1/4 the price of what currently existed.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

That's fine. I'm saying it's hard to understand why they're obsessed with pricing things so low and making them functionally limited. Release something that HAS internal storage and CAN be used to edit photos, movies, etc. I want to see them compete with Apple in more ways than the color of the keyboard and the size of the screen.

Yes, the 11" MBA in 4x the price, but it's fully capable of running pro level apps and even Windows at the same time. People are willing to pay for something that does a lot. Google is too focused on thinking people want netbooks. They don't.

The problem is their platform is not universally adopted like Apple's is. It took Apple 20 years before software vendors were writing applications that had to be released on Apple and not just Windows. My honest belief that Google doesn't want to be a player in the true laptop game and the tablet/netbook market is where they will stay for now. ChromeOS (and I've never used it so I might be wrong) lacks the firepower to be a true competitor to Apple or MS as a mainstream OS. Getting it to that level would most likely take billions of dollars so it doesn't just seem like another linux flavor and there is not a whole lot of money just being in the hardware game where the margins on the consumer side sometimes dip into the negatives.

[Burninator]

It honestly looks like a child's version of the Air running a weird looking Windows 7.